The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1887-03-25
MANY VICTIMS.

L 1EG 1klcDD1UUQ IlUtcI at DUAldLO3 We lee
| Destroyed by Fire-A Large Number Of
Guests Cut Of from Escape by the Flames
/ Three Persons Dead and Five Missing
/ Many Badly Hurt.
BUFFALo, n Y, March 19.-The new
/ Richmond Hotel Which stood at the corner
| Of Main and Eagle streets, st James Hall
/ and ether adjacent property were burned
down early yesterday morning. There
/ We're 125 persons sleeping in the hotel at
| the time the fire broke out, of whom sew
! enty were transient guests, eight
| were boarders, and the others were
| the proprietors of the hotel, their families
I etc Of these nine are missing or are
! known to be dead and twenty-six are
| burned or otherwise injured, many of them
| badly and some fatally. The total number
| of those who have persisted is not known
and may never be. By some it is estimated
as low as nine, the number of the known
| dead and missing, and others believe that
without doubt at least thirty are dead
/ The fire spread with frightful rapidity
| cutting off escape by natural ways of the
| guests who were aroused by the loud ring
| ing of electric bells Some of the terrified
! prisoners ran to the roof whence they
leaped to adjoining buildings and so es-
| capped. Some leaped from the roof to the
| ground, and others threw themselves in
| their fright and agony from the high Win
| dows to the pavement below, where they
were picked up mangled and bleeding.
| Others made ropes of their bedding and by
| them lowered themselves in safety to the
earth. The shrieks of the wretches who
found escape from the flames shut off were
| pitiful.
| The bodies recovered and identified up
| to ten o'clock last evening were: Wilson
| Purcell, broker, of Buffalo; Kate Wolfe,
a servant; Henry B. Rumsey, of New
| York, escaped from his room on the fifth
| floor, but died last night.
| The names of the missing are: Mark
| Osborne, the day clerk; ]. E. Acker, of
| Scranton, Pa; - Johnson, of Toronto;
| Minnie Kelly. Katie Kent, Mary WEIGH
| and Katie Pierce, servants.
| r. Fl. Humes occupied q room on the
| third floor. He was awakened by the
| electric bells, and after arousing several
| people on the same floor jumped through a
| window to the kitchen roof. There every
| thing was in flames. After bidding good
| bye to several others ON the same roof, he
made rush for the Eagle street door, go
| ing through the kitchen skylight and out
| through the flames and escaped. He left
| five persons on the kitchen roof, and
| thinks they must all have persisted, as
| they did not attempt to follow him through
| the flames.
Five girls who roomed on the fifth floor
| made a rope out of the bed clothes and
hung it out of the window, but none of
them seemed to have the courage to start.
At last one of the five took hold and swung
down TO window-ledge from which she
was rescued. Three others came down in
| the same manner, and then the fifth girl
| started down. She had gone but little
| distance when the rope parted and down
| she went four stories. Strange to say, she
| was not killed. Her legs were terribly cut
and bruised, her back badly injured and
| her face and arms were in a frightful con-
| dition from burns
The flames spread to the southeast side
of the hotel first 1t soon reached and
| Quilted st. James Hail. occupied as Bun
nell's Museum and Tivoli Hall, adjoin-
ing and fronting ON Washington street.
| The firemen were hampered terribly by the
mass of telegraph wires and cables strung
in front of the building on Main street.
Some eye-witnesses think the loss of life
was largely due to the delay caused by the
| wires.
William Fl. ABORT the night clerk, says:
1.-THE fire started in the cloak-room under the
main stairway at $3.50 o'clock. There was no.
body up but myself Joe, the night porter, and
Plummer, the bell-boy pulled all four of the
fire alarms on the different floors and the peo-
pie came flying down stairs in their night
clothes. The fire followed the elevator, and in
side of five minutes it reached the top floor.
rused out of doors after doing all could"
Perhaps the most thrilling escape of
hot of P1,nc Wbitfo1za,,
| step-son Of Proprietor Stafford He
roomed in the fifth story, and when
aroused stepped to the window and looked
down for a few seconds. Then he DELHI
| erately dressed himself, and, emerging
| from the window, stood on the stone cap
| ping above the window beneath. From
| this Gaping he stepped to the next one
| along the front of the building, and pro-
| ceeded in this manner to the Hayes truck
| ladder at the other extremity of the front
| The nerve and GOODNESS displayed were re-
| markable
Clinton Bidwell of Pittsburgh, is lying
on an improvised cot at Dr. Hayds office
on Niagara street "Look at my hands, y
he shrielzed II tied the sheets together
and came down by them When was
mostly down a man shot past ME who had
| jumped. He came near striking me. The
| people lay on the roof all about me. They
| were grooming and dying. 1t was awful
| They died, / know they did, The skin is
all off me. haven't friend with me and
none who knows me, but in Pittsburgh I
made up my mind I would stick to the
rope, and did,
Chief Hornung, of the Fire Department,
says: THE number OF people rescued by
| the hremen is about twenty to twenty-five
| We did all we could to rescue them. We
called off most of the men from the hose
and let the building go for awhile CIV
| ing all our attention to the ladders.
| yelled: Save the people, and the boys
| helped man the ladders on the outside. 1t
was a horrible sight to see the people
| jumping. The cool-headed ones were res
cued all right, but some wouldn't wait"
| The walls of the burned buildings are a
menace to life and until they are RACED and
| the ruins cooled no search for bodies can
| be made
The total money loss by the fire will be
! $400, 600. OF this amount the Buffalo
| library loses $4,000 on the hotel and
museum buildings, which were insured for
| $4,000. Fuller & Townsend, clothiers,
were insured for 5000. Their stock was
a total loss and was valued at $4,000
Peter Paul & Bro. and Albrich & Kingsley,
stationers, each lose $4,000, with $50, 900
insurance. Several minor losses were sus-
| tanned.
| Five other fires occurred yesterday.
Some are supposed to be incendiary, and
| the mayor has issued proclamation offer
ing $500 reward for the detection of the in
! cendiaries
VALUABLE DISCOVERY.